China is facing severe water challenges. Many parts of the country suffer from chronic water scarcity. Pollution is affecting the health of hundreds of waterways and public concern is increasing. Floods and droughts are a constant threat, especially as climate change increases uncertainty over rainfall patterns. Freshwater biodiversity is declining, with aquatic species such as the Yangtze river dolphin facing extinction.

The Chinese authorities have recognised that tackling these challenges is a matter of national priority and have significantly increased the resources available to water managers, emphasising ‘three red lines’ of improved water quality, increased water efficiency and more sustainable water allocations.

So how can China meet its aspirations for a water secure future which aids its continued economic development while enhancing environmental quality? This seminar will explore the current and potential future water situation in China, the response of China to these challenges drawing on global experiences, and risks to critical water infrastructure.

Current and future water challenges in China
Prof Li Yuanyuan, Vice President, General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design, Ministry of Water resources, PR China

Strategic principles and frameworks for water management in China and beyond – lessons from a global review
Dr David Tickner, Chief Freshwater Advisor, WWF-UK

Infrastructure vulnerability to water-related risks in China
Prof Jim Hall, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University

Professor of Caribbean Literature and Culture at Goldsmiths University, Joan Anim-Addo brings us her voice on Black Women’s Writing and the place of the Black figure in the Humanities. This event will be hosted in connection with Oxford ACS.

Writer of autobiography, poetry, fiction and journalism and Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths University Blake Morrison brings some of his latest work and interesting discussion to St. Anne’s.

Dr Simon Underdown (Oxford Brookes University) will explore how we made the journey from small-brained African apes to the dominant animal on the planet, answering questions such as ‘why are humans so smart?’, ‘why is there only one species of human?’, and ‘why are we the only animal with language and art?’.
As part of the Oxford Brookes University Festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 May 2014. #OutBurst2014

Professor Roger Griffin (Oxford Brookes University), author of ‘Terrorist’s Creed’, will draw upon actual examples of terrorist attacks and a number of films in this talk to help explain why ‘ordinary’ individuals carry out violent attacks, and what possibilities might exist for deradicalization (for years 14+).
As part of the Oxford Brookes University Festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 May 2014. #OutBurst2014

Alumni Lecture 2014.
In the Department of Social Policy and Intervention’s Centenary year, Jacqueline Bhabha, Harvard, will deliver the Alumni Lecture, followed by a drinks reception. Make a booking by sending an email to events@spi.ox.ac.uk

Novelist Ali Smith, author of Artful, Hotel World, and The Accidental, returns to St. Anne’s after holding the Weidenfeld Visiting Professorship in European Comparative Literature in 2012.

Between the artist and the museum

Friday 9 May 2014, 5-6.30pm (doors will open at 4.45pm)

Ashmolean Museum Headley Lecture Theatre

A symposium with Michael Govan (Humanitas Visiting Professor in Museums, Galleries & Libraries at Oxford University) and Vik Muniz (Artist). Chaired by Paul Hobson (Director, Modern Art Oxford).

Free admission but booking is essential.
http://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/humanitas/museums-galleries-libraries

The inaugural Oxford Education Conference is taking place in Pembroke College, Oxford on the 10th May 2014. Specialists from all over the UK will be gathering to discuss educational inequality – one of the most significant issues of today’s society. Supported by OUSU and the Oxford Hub, the Oxford Education Conference has been organised by a student committee and will bring issues of gender, BME, socio-economic background, and further education to the foreground.

We will be hearing from former Minister of Education Andrew Adonis, Teach First/BBC Tough Young Teacher’s Charles Wallendahl, and countless experts from government, social investment groups, and academics. The Oxford Education Conference will offer delegates the opportunity to hear from pioneering experts in Education and will hope to offer some possible solutions to the issues we face today.

For more information (and to purchase your ticket), check out www.oxeduconf.com, www.facebook.com/oxeduconf, www.twitter.com/oxeduconf and join the conversation with the handle #oxeduconf14

India: A Short History
With Andrew Robinson, author

Saturday 10 May, 2-3pm, Headley Lecture Theatre

India is the world’s largest democracy and a fast-growing economy. It is also a civilization with roots more than four thousand years old, including the technically advanced cities of the Indus Valley, the Buddha, Hindu dynasties, the Mughal Empire, and the British Raj. This lecture looks at individuals, ideas, and cultures, as well as the rise and fall of kingdoms, political parties, and economies.

Tickets £5/£4
http://www.ashmolean.org/events/Lectures/?id=132

Led by David Aldridge, an academic philosopher, educationalist and experienced role-playing enthusiast, this evening is intended for curious or experienced gamers alike to sample Dungeons and Dragons, celebrating collaborative storytelling and raising serious questions about ethics, metaphysics, and our own potential as human beings (ages 16+).
Part of the Oxford Brookes University festival, Outburst, at Pegasus, 6-10 may 2014. #OutBurst2014

The following three papers will be presented around the theme of dreams and sleep, and their different interpretations across cross disciplinary research studies:

ANKE EHLERS: ‘Haunted by Trauma: Flashbacks and Nightmares in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder’

TIM VINEY: ‘Activity Patterns of Identified GABA-releasing Neurons in the Rodent Hippocampus During Movement and Sleep’

DELPHINE FAYARD: ‘Sylphic Dreams in Eighteenth-Century French Literature’

This seminar series provides an opportunity to network with other members of the University, and to hear how other researchers plan, conduct and complete their research projects. We meet each term on Mondays of 3rd Week at 5.30pm to hear very brief presentations by a graduate student, a research fellow and a senior fellow at Wolfson, and continue with lively discussion over wine, followed by dinner in hall.

In this lecture series, Naomi Richman explores the evolution of the ideas central to major global belief-systems such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Marxism, and their status in the modern world from a social-scientific and secular perspective.

6 Lectures run on Mondays starting the 12th May.
6-7pm, Roy Griffiths Room. ARCO Building, Keble College.
Free, open to all, and followed by discussion.

Weeks 1 and 2: Christianity and Secularisation. Week 3: Buddhism. Week 4: Judaism. Week 5: Islam. Week 6: Marxism, Nationalism and Scientific Humanism

For more information, contact Dr Bea Prentiss,

A view from the Pacific: re-envisioning the art museum

Tuesday 13 May 2014, 5-6.30pm (doors will open at 4.45pm)

Ashmolean Museum Headley Lecture Theatre

A lecture by Michael Govan (Humanitas Visiting Professor in Museums, Galleries & Libraries at Oxford University). Chaired by Professor Christopher Brown (Director, Ashmolean Museum). The event will be followed by a drinks reception to which members of the audience are warmly invited.

Free admission but booking is essential.
http://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/humanitas/museums-galleries-libraries

Tour: Joseph Beuys & Jörg Immendorff
With Colin Harrison, Senior Curator of European Art

3–3.45pm on Wednesday 14 May and Wednesday 11 June

Tours are free, no booking is required. Please meet in Gallery 2.

http://www.ashmolean.org/exhibitions/details/?exh=92

Join us for a lunchtime talk by Geoff Kistruck – Associate Professor and Ron Binns Chair in Entrepreneurship at Schulich School of Business, York University. Geoff’s primary research interests involve social entrepreneurship and innovation, principally within the context of poverty alleviation efforts in base-of-the-pyramid markets.

His talk will focus on Base-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) markets and how they present significant governance challenges when undertaking large-scale investments. In the absence of strong legal institutions, organizations must design creative solutions for ensuring that local partners adhere to their agreements. Drawing upon social interdependence theory, his talk will propose that the use of alternative goal structures will serve to motivate local partners to fulfil their commitments.

Speaker: Edward Fitzgerald, QC
Renowned human rights lawyer and leading advocate in death row cases worldwide. Part of the Mansfield Lecture Series, convener Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.

Magic Museums at Night

Special Ashmolean Late Night Opening
Friday 16 May
7–10pm

FREE ENTRY

For 2014’s Museums At Night event, the Ashmolean is putting on an evening of magic. Curators will be presenting the magical and mystical objects of the collection while visitors are invited for magic shows and workshops, tarot reading, stargazing, flamenco dance and more.

https://www.facebook.com/events/448472011951907/

How does the brain work?
And how can we switch on and off specific neurons?
Join us for a Pint of Science with top academics from Oxford University.

You ever wanted to understand more about climate change? Is it real? what are the consequences?
Come join us for an expert panel from Oxford University who will shed some light on this highly debated subject

When is a volcano going to erupt and how do you measure that?
What is Magma and how can we start studying it?

These questions and more will be explained by top academics from Oxford University.
More details on our website.

Intellectual Property Discussion Group (IPDG)

How can we rewild animals to today’s environment?
How does the future of lethal viruses is going to be? Are they going to stick around with us as long as humanity exists

On Thursday 22nd at 6pm the Simpkins Lee will host a panel discussion exploring the battle for women’s education. Featuring a heavyweight line-up of Jane Robinson (author of the bestselling ‘Bluestockings’), Sarah Pine (OUSU VP for Women), Lyndall Gordon (alumni and Fellow of St. Hilda’s College) and Tim Whitmarsh (Head of ‘Women and the Humanities’ at TORCH), it promises to be a smashing 45 minute insight into the world of women’s colleges, the battle for equality, and why ‘women’s studies’ deserves a place on the curriculum.

event is free

Speaker: Judy Webb

The Lye Valley, formally known as Hogley Bog, is a surprising and little known hot spot of wildlife biodiversity, a habitat for stunning wildflowers and spectacular insects in the centre of the City of Oxford. Beautiful marsh helleborine orchids are thriving here, within just a few metres of housing, and an important, historic, population of Grass-of-Parnassus is recovering to good numbers. Oxford botanists since the 1650s have loved this site and it was a favorite of photographer Henry Taunt, whose description of the Grass of Parnassus is quoted in the title. This is the story of a rare, ancient, wetland fen community, which has been fed by lime-rich spring water for thousands of years. It is one of the most important heritage sites within the city.

All Summer Lectures start at 6.30pm in the Daubeny Lecture Theatre (at
 the front of the Botanic Garden) and are followed by a drinks reception in the Botanic Garden. Ticket cost £8 per talk or £36 for the series of 5.
For more details, visit: http://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/whatson